DeVos Center Wall Gallery, Pew Campus
July 9, 2021 - January 6, 2022

Lake Ontario Hall Wall Gallery, Allendale Campus
January 7 - June 17, 2022

When an artist creates a work of art, they often use visual movement. It adds excitement, drama, and direction. Movement is one of the basic principles of art and can be incredibly effective at drawing a viewer’s attention to a piece or guiding their eye through a composition. Within an individual piece, artists can also apply movement to a single component or object, or to the whole arrangement itself. An artist who adeptly makes use of this principle significantly improves the energy and cohesiveness of their piece.

One the Move – Applying Visual Movement in Art is an exhibition drawn from the Grand Valley State University’s permanent collection of art. It includes 25 works from 15 artists selected for their specific use of movement in their art. Many of these works are part of Grand Valley’s Print and Drawing Cabinet, which houses over 4,000 museum-quality works on paper. Read on to learn more about the Print and Drawing Cabinet.

View Artwork in the Art Collection Database

To achieve movement in a work, artists skillfully apply elements such as rhythm, line, color, and space in specific ways. Rhythm is created when shapes, colors, or lines are repeated in a pattern. Artists can also produce perspective and draw a viewer’s eye towards a distant point by gradually reducing the size of this rhythmic pattern. Dynamic use of individual lines also produces movement. If an artist uses a sweeping or angled line as opposed to a straight line, they imply movement of subject matter in their work. Similarly, dynamic use of color, often juxtaposed with a contrasting color, creates energy and 3-dimensional quality.

Finally, an artist’s use of space, the proportion of shapes and their relationship, can produce movement. This is particularly noticeable when an artist places a subject where it only makes sense if it is moving, such as a person jumping in mid-air. Historically, artists have increasingly utilized ways to create visual movement in their artwork, often focusing on specific methods. Early 20th-century Italian artists launched the Futurism movement, which sought to capture the dynamism and energy of the modern world. Artists focused on dynamic lines and created abstracted shapes that reflected a preoccupation with speed and new technology. In the 1960s, Op Art or Optical Art became popularized with work that examined our eye's response to pattern and line, and the effect of highly contrasting colors. 

New technology, particularly the camera, also enables artists to present movement to the viewer. Images of a blurred subject matter capture motion and imply continued movement. And, as artists apply new methods and technologies to their creative process, they will continue to utilize the important principle of movement in their work.

Location

July 9, 2021 - December 10, 2021
DeVos Center Wall Gallery
Richard M. DeVos Center, Building B
401 West Fulton Street
Grand Rapids, MI 49504

January 7 - June 17, 2022
Lake Ontario Hall Wall Gallery, Allendale Campus
Lake Ontario Hall
4023 Calder Dr 
Allendale, MI 49401

For directions and parking information visit www.gvsu.edu/maps.

Contact

For special accommodation, please call:
(616) 331-3638

For exhibition details and media inquires, please email:
Joel Zwart, Curator of Exhibitions
[email protected]

For learning and engagement opportunities, please email [email protected].